Unit dispensing device



y 1938. F. G. STEINER 2,117,375

UNIT DISAPENSING DEVICE Filed Sept. 50, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTOENEYJ May 17, 1938. F. G. STEINER UNIT DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Sept. 50, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 fnyer zzl or G. JTE/NER )YTTQENEKJ May 17, 1938. F. G. STEINER UNIT DISPENSING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 E6. 5

Filed Sept. 30, 1955 ATTORNEYS Patented May 17, 1938 UNIT DISPENSING DEVICE Frank G. Steiner, Chicago, 111., assignor to Steiner Sales Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, a corporation of Utah Application September 30, 1935, Serial No. 42,897

8 Claims. (Cl. 164-845) This invention relates generally to improve- Figure 3 is a plan section taken approximately ments in unit dispensing cabinets particularly on line 3-3 of Figure 2; adapted for dispensing paper units, including pa- Figure 4 is a vertical section approximately on per drying units. line 44 of Figure 2 showing the stop mechanism 5 An important feature of the invention reand timer as at the beginning of timing; 5 lates to a type of apparatus in which friction Figure 5 is a side elevation partly broken away feeding is accomplished. by means of the finger showing the position of the stop mechanism and or fingers pressing the paper against a backing timer as at the end of timing;

plate and moving it therealong to accessible po- Figure 6 is a vertical section similar to Figure 10 sition, either alone or in combination with sevl but showing a modification; and 10 ering, by pulling on a length of paper which has Figure '7 is a view of the form of Figure 6 showbeen thus brought to an accessible position. ing the stop and timer mechanism, as at the be- Another important object of the invention is ginning of timing. to combine with a finger-feed type of apparatus In the drawings, see Figure 1, numeral l genin which there is pressure of the paper against erally indicates the outer casing of a cabinet 15 a plate during feeding, means frictionally ophaving a sheet metal plate as a door 2 hinged erated by the fed paper for limiting the degree at the top as at 3, and having an elongated openof withdrawal of the paper either alone or in ing 4 through which the fingers pass to engage combination with means acting thereafter for the paper for friction feeding. At the bottom preventing further feed for a predetermined time and inner side of the door is arranged a tear-off 20 period. The control of limit-feeding or of limitblade 5 having a serrated tear-off edge 6. Spaced feeding with timing, by means of finger friction inwardly from the door and hinged at the bottom feed of paper along a backing plate is believed to to the cabinet as at 8, is a plate It herein called be new in this art. a backing plate against which the paper is fin- Features of the invention include: finger feed ger-pressed and finger-moved to an accessible 25 of the paper across a plate to an accessible posiposition. tion and severing by pulling; down-stroke feed- The bottom portion of the plate ID and the ing against and across a plate, and up-pull sevtear-off blade 5 define a transverse delivery openering; means frictionally controlled by the paper ing or slot which, in this instance, is located at as it is fingerfed along the plate for limiting the bottom of the cabinet. The upper edge of 30 the degree of feed; the finger feedagainst the the plate is bent and rounded as at H. Referring plate and the use of a roll frictionally controlled to Figure 3: Inward movement of the plate is limby the paper, as it is finger-fed, for limiting the ited by means of the front edge of a vertical pardegree of feed; the use of a backing plate and tition I4 and by the front edge of a bracket plate door as guiding means; the placement of the IS, these two elements also forming bearing or 35 tear-off knife on the door; the use of the tear-off journal plates for a friction roll l5 having a shaft knife as means cooperating with the backing IT. The backing plate is locked against outward plate to form an exit or delivery opening for the movement, see Figures 2 and 3, by means of slide cabinet; the arrangement of the tear-off blade latches 20 enga ed With ill-turned pfl fl 2! 0f and exit opening at the bottom of the cabinet; the s d 22 of the cabinet The door is e 40 the positioning of the blade on the door so that closed by means of button latches indicated at 25 severing is obtained by up-pull; the use of plates having locking elements also Cooperating With to form a paper guide and the specific manner of p n (not n) in the ill-turned p i hinging the plates; a simple relatively inexpensive device; and all details of construction, along Referring again to Figure 11 There s a avity- 45 With the broader ideas of means inherent in the Operating Pinch 101125 Coopemble With the YOU disclosure. The paper supply roll is indicated at 21 and the Objects, features and advantages of the invenpaper 28 is passed from the forward side of the tion will be set forth in the description of the roll upwa ly v the roll l6 around the pinch drawings forming a part of this application, and 1'0 25 and d W Y against the rounded D 50 in said drawings tion H of the backing plate downwardly across Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section taken the outer face of the plat generally t the D approximately on line il of Figure 2; tion shown in dotted lines, after which the paper Figure 2 is a front elevation with parts broken is generally to n 011 The pinch 1011 has a Shaft away; 30 journaled in suitably shaped slots 3|, carried 55 by the plate l4 and bracket 15. This slot construction is old in the art, and permits raising of the roll, and securing of the same in raised position to facilitate threading-through of the paper.

The roll l6 constitutes means frictionally controlled by the paper as it is finger-fed along the plate for controlling means to limit the degree of feed. This limiting means structure per se is not claimed herein, but I believe it new to control such a means alone or with timing means, by the friction action of paper, which is finger-fed across a plate. Referring to Figure 4: There is arranged at the outer side of. the plate I4 and fixed to the roll shaft l! a stop arm 35. A stop slide 36 is suitably slidably arranged in a slot 3! of the plate I4 and this slide is operably connected as at 38 with the stem 39 of a dashpot type of timer, the barrel of which is indicated at 40. The timer per se is not claimed. In order to control the arm and slide for the purposes herein, the same are connected by a link 42 slotted lengthwise at 43. A pivot screw 54 passes through the slot and connects with the arm to form a sliding connection. The opposite end of the link is pivotally connected with a projection 46 of the stop slide 36 whereon it is held by split pin 41.

With the parts positioned as in Figure 5, feeding can be accomplished and during finger feeding the paper, acting frictionally on the roll l6, moves the arm in counter-clockwise direction. After the arm has moved to the right across the top of. the slide to clear it, the link is acted upon to raise the slide to the position shown in Figure 4, thus setting the timer. One complete rotation of the roll, brings the stop arm and stop slide to stop position with the timer set, and released to begin timing. This mechanism per se is not claimed herein.

As long as the slide 36 occupies the position shown in Figure 4, no feeding of the paper can take place because of the frictional relation of the paper with the roll IS. A ratchet wheel 50 and pawl 51 prevent improper rotation of the roll i6. A back-off mechanism is also provided to assure free motion of the slide 36 under control of the timer. This consists of a cam 52 on roll 56, and a roller 53 carried by an arm 54 pivoted as at 55 to the plate M and spring pressed to the position shown to engage the roller 53 with a cam projection 56. After the arm 35 strikes the slide 36 as it does to limit the feed, the roller acting on the projection 56 rotates the roll slightly in clockwise direction to back the lower end of the arm away from the slide 36 to the slightly spaced position shown, whereby downward movement of the plate is not interfered with by any frictional engagement of the arm therewith.

In Figure 6, a modification is shown in which the gravity-acting pinch roll is replaced by a spring-pressed roll 62 acting against roll 60. The roll 62 has a shaft 63 supported in horizontal slots E i respectively carried by the plate HE and the bracket [5. Springs 66 engage the projecting ends of the shafts as shown in Figure '7. In this instance, the paper 28 is brought from the forward side of the roll 27 upwardly between the rolls 653 and E2 and then around roll and downwardly across the rounded upper portion H of the backing plate iii, thence downwardly through the guide formed by backing plate and door.

The feed-limit and timing structures are substantially the same as in the first form, the only difference being that the rotation of the roll 60 for feeding is clockwise rather than counterclockwise. The back-01f mechanism is the same as in the first form, the elements being merely positionally reversed because of the change in direction of rotation of the roll 60 over the roll l6.

Operation In loading the cabinet, the door 2 is swung upwardly to lie on top of the cabinet, and the backing plate swung downwardly to the dotted position shown in Figure 1. The roll of paper is then introduced, and paper is passed upwardly between the rolls, thence downwardly over the upper end of the plate and downwardly through the guide and through the orifice formed by the backing plate and the tear-off knife, to an accessible position, after which the paper is generally torn ofi.

In using the device, the paper may be fingerfed sufiiciently to bring it into View and to a position accessible for grasping, and then the accessible portion may be grasped and pulled to the limit as determined by the stop mechanism; or feeding out of the entire predetermined length may be accomplished by finger feeding. Preferably the user passes his finger or fingers through the slot 4, engages the paper and moves it downwardly as it lies upon the backing plate, to bring a sufiicient length of paper into view for grasping. Then he grasps the paper and pulls it to the limit of feed after which he brings the paper upwardly to the dotted line position of Figure 1 and tears ofi along the toothed edge 6 by an upward-pulling motion. No more paper can now be fed until the slide has moved to its position in Figure 5.

I claim as my invention:

1. A paper dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a plate forming a partial closure for the front of the cabinet, a door for the cabinet slightly spaced from the plate and having an elongated vertical slot through which the finger passes to press the paper against and feed it along the plate, tearoif means placed adjacent the bottom of the plate and door below which the paper is fed to assume tearoff relation, a measuring roll over which the paper passes from a supply roll, and a roll engaged with the measuring roll and from which the paper is led around the upper edge of the backing plate.

2. A paper dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a plate, a door for the cabinet slightly spaced from the plate and having an elongated vertical slot through which the finger passes to press the paper against and feed it along the plate, tearoff means placed adjacent the bottom of the plate and door below which the paper is fed to assume tearoff relation, and a measuring roll upwardly to which the paper passes from a supply roll and from which the paper is led downwardly around the upper edge of the backing plate.

3. A paper dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a plate forming a partial closure for its front and hinged thereto to swing downwardly to allow servicing of the cabinet, a door for the cabinet pivoted thereto to swing upwardly, said door being slightly spaced from the plate and having an elongated vertical slot through which the finger passes to press the paper against and feed it along the plate, tearofi means placed adjacent the bottom of the plate and door below which the paper is fed to assume tearoff relation, a measuring roll upwardly to which the paper passes from a supply roll, and a pinch roll for the measuring roll from which the paper is led slantingly downwardly around the upper edge of the plate.

4. A paper dispensing apparatus comprising a cabinet having a plate, a door for the cabinet slightly spaced from the plate and having an elongated vertical slot through which the finger passes to press the paper against and feed it along the plate, tearoff means placed adjacent of the bottom of the plate and door below which the paper is fed to assume tearofi relation thereto, a measuring roll arranged near the top of the cabinet and upwardly and over which the paper passes from a supply roll which rests upon the bottom of the cabinet, and the paper passing downwardly from the roll around the upper edge of the backing plate.

5. A cabinet, having therein a plate against which the paper is pressed and slid to feed it, and a measuring roll from which the paper passes to the plate, whereby the roll is operated as the paper is slid.

6. A paper dispensing cabinet having a measuring roll operated by the paper, a plate receiving the paper from the roll and against which the paper is pressed and slid for feeding, and a pinch roll cooperating with the paper on the measuring roll, the paper being led over the pinch roll thence to the plate.

7. A paper dispensing cabinet having a measuring roll operated by the paper, a first plate receiving the paper from the roll and against which the paper is pressed and slid for feeding, the paper being led upwardly over the roll and thereafter passing to and against the plate, said first plate being hinged at the bottom of the cabinet, a second plate hinged at the top of the cabinet and forming with said first plate a guide, the bottom of said last mentioned plate having a blade against by which the paper can be torn off after being fed across the first mentioned plate by the finger of the user, the said second plate having a vertically elongated slot through which the finger is passed to press the paper against the first plate and slide the paper.

8. A paper dispensing cabinet having a measuring means operated by the paper, a plate receiving the paper from said means and against which the paper is pressed and slid for feeding, the paper being led upwardly over the measuring means and thereafter passing against and around an upper smoothing edge of said plate, then against the face of the plate.

FRANK G. STEINER. 

